Addressing an opening ceremony of the meeting, Kyrgyz State Secretary Nur uulu Dosbol said cultural cooperation is an important element of multilateral cooperation within the SCO, which groups China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

The SCO’s cooperation in the cultural field is playing a more and more active role in promoting friendship and strengthening mutual understanding among the people of the member nations of the organization, he added.

At the meeting, the ministers reviewed the present multilateral cultural cooperation within the SCO and discussed plans for further cooperation in this field.

They agreed that SCO members should make concerted efforts to take substantial measures, strengthen pragmatic cooperation, and give a great deal of press publicity to their cooperation in cultural activities.

Three agreements on cultural exchanges among SCO members, including a plan on inter-governmental cultural cooperation, were approved during the meeting.

The cultural ministers also agreed to hold their next meeting in Russia.